If that is how it is coming across, then that isn't what we are thinking. I guess I should have explained that my partner has never had an actual dog of his own and his parents have mostly had small dogs. I have had experience of dealing with different breeds, meduim to big, and have dealt with strays before. He has always experienced them from puppies.

Plus, because he had seen her showing signs of being house trained, he presumed too much, which I have told him as well. I noted that she may have been house trained, but new there would be some kind of accidents while she was adjusting. I think it was mostly that within 24hrs of being in the house, she had done that many accidents it was a shock for him.

As much as he mentions that she has till friday, I very much doubt she will be going anywhere. As far as I'm concerned she's staying, I myself have dealt with people giving up on me in the past and I see that in her. I'm not gonna let him. But he has been talking a lot about future things, taking her to beach in the summer and such things. If he was hell bent on taking her back, he wouldn't be talking like that.

Now that we have a big plastic sheet covering the living room floor, he's calmed down a lot more now. And last night we saw a woman, who we'd seen Friday night when we had brought her home from the kennel, and remarked on how much change she saw in Mishka's attitude, especially as she started interacting with the woman's dog, German Shepard/Husky, and friday she wouldn't have gone near him. So something's working.

So far today, she's had one accident in the house, but that was because we had such horrible weather this morning, gale force wind and rain. I wouldn't want to go outside either, but we left her out there for ages after her walk so she could have a chance to do it but she wasn't interested till she came in.

What I have noticed, is that when she comes in, she doesn't even sniff around but just does it. I always thought, from dogs in the past, they only pee and such after smelling. This is probably one reason why it is so hard to notice if she is about to do something, because she just does it. If anyone has any other tips of noticing when they are going to do it, then I would love to hear them. There's no change in her behaviour before she does it either from what I've noticed.

I am so proud to say that she did both outside of the house today.
The only problem was when I went to make a big fuss of her, she slightly freaked out but cheese brought her round a bit. I'm starting to think her previous owners just had a go at her all the time, whether she did it outside or inside. She spent the whole time looking sheepish as she was doing her poo, as though she was pleading that she was sorry. I just stood there and kept saying good girl excitedly and pulled the treats out when she was finished, as she's getting very distracted by the treats.

Is there any other way of praising without taking it too much, as she's easily spooked at the minute?

Suggestions

Originally Posted by carrie

Sorry, Karen, but please do not try to crate train this dog. This animal is confused and scared and one of the outcomes is a lot more pee and poo!! If the dog does not understand where to put this then this creates more stress which create more pee and poo with nowhere to put it! You need to take a very deep breath (outside) and be very careful with your next step. This dog needs understanding and you need to forget behaviour you saw at the kennel - start again, this is a puppy who has no house training. It is also a very frightened soul and does not know what to do so naturally goes to the loo where it is less likely to be seen. This is not a marking issue. This is an everybody has always got really upset when I can't hold it in any more issue. Assume this dog has no idea what you want, start from scratch.